Prior art refrigerators which have been provided with refrigeration compartments and in some instances refrigeration and freezing compartments in the same general shell have been constructed by the manufacturers to provide excellent resistance to heat flow through the walls and doors of the refrigerators. As the environmental movement has demanded a more effective heat barrier, the manufacturers have increased the insulating capability of the insulation contained therein so that the greatest chance for the admission of heat into the, interior of the refrigerator is through the door gasket seal interface. Efforts have, been made to decrease the clearance between the door liner and the refrigerator wall to reduce the opportunity for heat flow between the door liner and the abutting wall however, the distance which must be maintained between the wall and the door liner is dictated by providing suitable clearance for the liner to swing when the door is opened. Manufacturing tolerances dictate the minimum gap which is allowable; between the door liner and the adjacent refrigerator wall. Because the door must swing in an arc, the part of the door liner which protrudes the furthest into the refrigerator opening tends to brush the refrigerator wall when the door is opened or closed.
In the past, the refrigerator wall and the door liner were arranged to meet at an angle so that the arc traced by the door liner poses the least interference possible with the refrigerator wall. Although this left a fairly large gap between the liner and the door wall when the refrigerator door is closed it was felt that the gasket between the door and the frame of the refrigerator could present sufficient thermal resistance to allow an acceptable amount of heat into the refrigerator.